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THE DAILY
MISSISSIPPIAN
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Volume 104, No. 138
T H E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M I S S I S S I P P I S E R V I N G O L E M I S S A N D OX F O R D S I N C E 1 9 1 1
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Oxford mourns Orlando victims
@thedm_news
PHOTO BY: MARLEE CRAWFORD
The Oxford-University community gathered Tuesday night at Lamar Park to honor the victims of the June 12 shooting in Orlando. Cathy Grace (above) cries after reading the name and age of Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, the first victim listed in commemoration during the vigil on Tuesday. A participant (left) holds a candle and the picture of a shooting victim. For updates on the federal investigation into Sunday’s shooting and information on blood donations through Mississippi Blood Services, see page 6. PHOTO BY: CADY HERRING
Oxford reacts to updated Confederate memorial plaque language LYNDY BERRYHILL
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Groups and individuals in the Oxford-University community are speaking out about the newest language that will be posted on the Confederate memorial at the Circle. Several groups who provided input after the initial plaque language was released in March believe the new plaque is a sign of progress. Buka Okoye, president of the UM chapter of the NAACP, said
he supported the removal of the memorial initially, but thinks the University has done better by students to update the language. “This is a step in the right direction,” Okoye said. The new plaque language mentions the Lost Cause ideology in addition to citing the loss of the Civil War to Confederates meant freedom to millions of slaves across the nation. “That’s what I wanted to see, the truth coming out,” Okoye said.
As a result of the many groups criticizing the original plaque, a more comprehensive search was made for the updated language. The UM history faculty, after releasing a statement with their own proposed language, composed a comprehensive report on the Confederate memorial and presented it the original Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on History and Context. Assistant Professor of History Anne Twitty worked with fellow history faculty John Neff and Jarod Roll as well as Dar-
ren Grem, assistant professor of history, and graduate student of history Jillian McClure to develop the report. “Members of the history faculty were delighted to have a chance to use our expertise to provide recommendations to the current contextualization committee and the Chancellor about how to revise the plaque,” Twitty said. “We appreciated the opportunity to meet with them both, host two forums to ensure broader community input and present a detailed re-
port based on our deep historical knowledge of not only the Civil War and Reconstruction, but the Jim Crow era as well as the Civil Rights Movement.” Since the revised plaque has been released, Twitty said she would have liked the plaque to mention how black people were disfranchised across the South, but the new plaque language represents a meaningful improvement. “We feel gratified to have been
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